The Darkness Within
by MissingMommy
Summary: All is well and good, when James lives next door to Lily. That was until she was 10, he moved, breaking every promise he made. Now her life became a living hell and there is only one person who can save her. Hopefully he learns in time. Reposted!
1. I'm Lily, like the flower

A/n- so this is my edited and better version of my previous story. It will have some of the same things as Darkness Within, but I will be changing a lot of thing. I have grown as a writer since I first posted this story back in 2008. I'm just hoping that everyone enjoys the revised story better than the original. Some of the names have been changed to fit better with the time period they were born in. Sorry for the confusion.

Disclaimer_:_ I own nothing of Harry Potter. It respectively belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling.

_Other news:_ The summary has been changed from the previous one. Even though I left the original story posted, I have changed the summary. Its original summary is as followed: All is well and good, when James lives next door to Lily. That was until she was 10, he moved, breaking every promise he made. Now her life became a living hell and there is only one person who can save her. Hopefully he learns in time. J/L S/oc R/oc

_Third Person POV_

A mother walked with a girl of about seven, with electrifying green eyes that were a striking contrast to the brilliant red locks that hid them. Her mother had her wrist in a tight hold, painfully pulling her along. No matter how much the girl pulled and struggled, the woman wouldn't stop. Her father walked behind them, loosely holding the wrist of an older girl. The other child bore no resemblance to the young redhead, with her straight sunshine hair and crystal eyes like the mother.

By one glance in the child's startling eyes, one could tell that the girl didn't want to go anywhere with her parents. "You're in so much trouble when we get home," her father fiercely spat in the girl's ear when no soul was giving them a second glance. Those words made the girl stiffen quickly. Her arm went limp in her mother's grasp and she walked along willingly.

Hours later, the girl made it to the place she called home. It was a beautiful, two story blue house, with spacious backyard and perfectly manicured front lawn. Once in the living room, away from the worried looks, her parents yelled and screamed in her face. It never mattered how used to it the seven year old was, it never got easier. The taunts and the screams never seemed to faze her, but once alone in her small bedroom, tears would flow freely.

When she was finally dismissed from the yells, grounded for the next week, she hurried to her room. She sat down on the end of her bed, tears falling quietly, wondering why her parents hated her. After a while, she looked out her window, glancing at the road. It was the only view her bedroom had, but during winter, the snow was a sight to see. There was no snow, seeming as it was in the middle of a blazing hot summer. She wiped away her tears and smiled slightly. The house for sale across the road, a two story green house, had finally been filled with people.

As she studied the family from her second story window, she became even more excited. The family wasn't too big, with two parents and three kids running around the lawn. Moving specialist carried everything into the house, allowing the father to chase the children around the yard. Even from her window, she could hear the roar of laughter emitted from the children that was loud as motorcycles. Suddenly, she felt jealously overwhelm her body. All she wanted was parents who loved her and a sister who wouldn't just stand there during their "lectures". Was that too much to ask for?

After staring at the new neighbors with her arms crossed, she found it would be rude if she didn't introduce herself. She slipped out of her bedroom, silently, and entered the bathroom to make sure that the tears her parents caused weren't present. Deciding that they weren't visible, she crept downstairs. Her parents were praising her faultless older sister in the living room. Her footsteps were quiet as she slipped out the back door and to the other side of the street.

The mother was the first to notice the petite, young girl rapidly approaching their new residence. She wasn't that old, but her strawberry blonde hair had streaks of gray throughout and her bright gray eyes appeared to be tired. She was sitting on the steps with a hand lying on her swollen stomach, watching her husband chase their three children around the yard.

"Samuel," she called softly to the group. The man, a coal headed man with sparkling hazel eyes, looked up at the woman on the steps. She nodded towards where the young kid was advancing toward them. "It looks like we have a guest, darling."

The father, Samuel, ran a hand through his messy hair and smiled. The children stopped and stood quietly behind their father. This wasn't their first time in a new neighborhood, but it still unnerved them when the locals approached them. The young girl stood a few steps in front of the father, smiling brightly. "Hello," Samuel said first. The three children poked their heads out from around their father's legs, trying to get a good look at the new redhead.

"Hi," she replied, softly. "You're the people who bought the house?" she asked, glancing up at the green house. It looked identical to hers from the front. The windows looked into the front living room. The door that hung open as the movers carried more furniture into the house showed the staircase that led to the second story.

"Yes. Where are your parents?" the women asked, joining Samuel, who put his arm around her waist.

"Inside," the girl pointed towards her house across the street. "I saw other kids. There haven't been new kids in the neighborhood in a while," she looked up, since the parents towered over her.

"Well, this is Madelynn," the women pointed towards the oldest girl. Her raven hair was pulled back in a hairband and her hazel eyes were still sparkling with laughter. "Susan," she pulled the younger girl from behind Samuel. Susan inherited her mother's strawberry blonde hair and her father's hazel eyes. "And this is," she broke off.

The boy came willingly from behind his father's leg, sticking his hand out. "I'm James, after my grandfather of course," he smiled. He was his father's son, with wild coal hair and bright hazel eyes.

Lily grabbed his hand and shook, "I'm Lily, like the flower."

"Nice to meet you, Lily," his mother nodded. "Would you like some juice?" she asked softly, sending the three kids inside for lunch. Lily nodded and James pulled her inside, towards the kitchen.

It was the same floor plan as her own house, she found out after drinking her juice. James had given her the tour, showing her which rooms were whose. Unlike her house, the basement had been finished and added three bedrooms and a bathroom to the already three bedrooms and two bathrooms home. Madelynn and Susan had claimed two of the three bedrooms downstairs, while James had taken the furthest bedroom upstairs.

Petunia's bedroom, she thought. At the thought of her family, she remembered that she was grounded to her bedroom. If she wasn't back soon, she would get in more trouble then she already was in. As she was returning home, James' mum reminded her that she was allowed over anytime she wished.

A/n- I added A LOT more detail then last time, switched a few things, and added some other things. Now you know James' father's name, and that his mum is pregnant already, and what his house looks like. I did change how she met them and Susan and Madelynn's appearance. I hope that it is better than before.


	2. It was a family thing

A/n- So again, it may follow some of the same plot of the original, but details have been changed. I hope you all enjoy the newest chapter of this story.

_Third Person POV_

Two months had passed since Lily had first met the Potter's. Life was so much easier than before they entered her life. Not only having friends, but having an escape from the torturous thoughts was the best thing for her. She, regularly, spent the night over at the Potters' house. His parents had set up the room in the basement to be hers. They furnish it with a bed with a bright pink comforter. A desk was pushed up against the west wall. The bed was parallel with the south wall. A bookcase was against the east wall, in between the door and her closet. Her room was a softer pink than her comforter.

Lily and the Potters bid Madelynn goodbye a month ago as she left for the boarding school that James said she was going to. It was the end of October when Mrs. Potter went into labor with the twins. Since his parents were allowing their two children to name the twins, Lily had spent several hours helping James choose from the list of names his parents had given him as a guide. Well, it was more of a list that they were allowed to name them, approved by both of the parents.

James had woken Lily up by turning on the light in her bedroom. "Lil, it's time to go," he said excitedly. She yawned and stretched before following James back up the steps and out of the house. James held her hand during the late night car ride to the hospital. Susan was left to watch over the two younger ones until their grandparents could arrive.

James' grandparents, William and Anna Potter, had arrived half an hour after the Potter's arrived. Being nearly eleven thirty at night, James and Lily were tired but they didn't want to fall asleep before the twins were born.

_I must have dosed off_, Lily thought to herself as James' grandmother shook her shoulder lightly. James rubbed his eyes and looked around, noticing his father standing at the exit of the room. A smile quickly appeared on his face as he took Lily's hand, quickly pulling her along. "Happy Halloween, Jay," Lily laughed.

"It's Halloween?" he questioned, slowing down to a quick pace.

Lily pointed to the clock, and nodded. "Yes, fifteen minutes ago."

As they entered the room, James heard Grandma Anna ask his older sister, "James is seven, right?" He could tell, even being in front of the pair, that his sister nodded. "Why does he have a girlfriend so young?"

_Girlfriend?_ he repeated in his head. Susan's laugh sounded like bells as she replied, "James doesn't have a girlfriend. They are best friends."

Any other thoughts of his friendship with Lily were dropped as they entered the delivery room. His father was holding one baby with a blue blanket. His mother, who looked completely worn out, was holding the other baby that was wrapped in a pink blanket. James let go of Lily's hand and climbed up on the bed with his mother. "Can I hold the girl, Mum?" he asked.

His mother laughed and put the tiny girl in James' arm. His father placed the boy in Susan's arm, who was sitting in one of the several chairs. When the two were asked what they were naming the twins, James answered first. "Raylie Brooke."

"Ryan Benjamin," Susan looked up from her youngest brother.

Raylie was smaller than Ryan by an ounce. She had coal hair sticking up from her scalp, but she kept her eyes closed. Ryan, on the other hand, was hairless and his hazel eyes were searching the room with interest. The twins were passed around the room, letting James' grandparents get a chance to hold them.

The door swung open, revealing two more people standing there. Judging by their looks, Lily could tell that they were James' other grandparents. "Sorry we're late, Helen. Your father can't drive very well," the women stated loudly. Her once copper hair had faded, leaving gray in its place. Her gray eyes glanced at everyone in the room longer than necessary, paying close attention to James. He was talking softly to Lily, ignoring everyone around the two.

His grandfather looked down apologetically before kissing James' mother on the forehead. "You know how hard it is to drive Muggle contraptions," he whispered softly. It went unnoticed by Lily, who was listening intently to James. His hair was now snow white and his green eyes were glowing with happiness. "But nothing could stop me from seeing my only daughter after she has given me two more grandchildren," he laughed, filling the whole room.

The pair made their rounds, hugging Samuel, Susan, and James. Lily stood off to the side, feeling a little unwelcome, as she watched James chat happily with his grandparents. She could feel the glances of his grandmothers on her and she knew they wondered why she was here. Sometimes she asked the same question.

Before she could think anything else, more people came rushing in the room. "Oh, Helen, Samuel, we came as fast as we could once we heard the news. Congrats on the twins," a women said. Her blonde curls bounced as she walked towards Clara, James' Grandmother. She picked up Ryan, securing him in her arms, glancing around with her dark blue eyes. "James, Susan, come give your Aunt Daisy a hug. Merlin, have you two grown since I last saw you."

Lily took that moment to exit the room. She headed back to the waiting room, letting James be with his family. She took the free seat nearest the window and watched as the cars flew by. She jumped a few inches once she heard James ask, "Lil, what are you doing in here?"

She sighed in relief, settling back down in her seat before replying, "It was a family thing. I shouldn't be there."

"You are part of the family now. Besides, my parents love you," he whispered softly. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the room, no matter how much she protested. He wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

After sometime at the hospital, admiring the newborns, James' parents urged them to go home. They could see the twins the next day. They bid his parents and new siblings goodbye as they departed for home.

Too tired to return to her house, James insisted that she spend the night. It's not like she hadn't before. He took her hand so she couldn't return to her house. His grandparents and aunts and uncles found this strange. James bid Lily a goodnight as he turned off her light and retired to his bedroom. In the silence of the night, Lily quietly made her way into James' room. His grandparents flipped slightly as they discovered Lily and James were sleeping in his room the next morning.

A/n- so you met a lot of new characters. Both set of James' grandparents. Just to be clear, Anna and William are Samuel parents' while James and Clara are Helen's parents. Daisy is Samuel's sister. Review please!


	3. You're breaking all your promises

A/n- this time I have taken the time to write a plot line down so hopefully I don't get writers block this time around. I'm going to make sure I have a chapter a head so just in case I don't feel like writing.

Warning: This is my darker side of writing. This chapter includes character death, abuse, and attempted suicide.

_Third Person POV_

Over the course of the next three years, Lily and James had become inseparable. When he found out how her parents treated her, he was furious. She didn't hear the end of it for days. She wished he never found out. Every time he would look at her, she would see pity clouding his sparkling hazel eyes. She didn't want him to pity her. She just wanted him to understand why she always thought she was never good enough.

But his promises rang clearly in her ears, almost as loud as the day he growled them to her. He had stopped pushing her on the swing and growled passionately in her ear, "I'll always protect you, Lily. I'll always be there for you. You're safe with me. They'll never hurt you again, I promise."

But it was a lie, she realize months after he said that. He couldn't protect her when he wasn't there. The moving trunk in the driveway was a sign that her world was crashing down. As he tried to explain, tears rolled freely down her cheek. It was only the second time that he saw her cry. He was deeply sorry for making her cry, but he couldn't do anything about it. The choices offered to him the previous night weren't the easiest to decide between.

He lied to her, which was difficult, but she saw right through it. He just knew she did. She was a brilliant girl, worthy of Ravenclaw. Before he could say anything to her to comfort her, the rest of his family approached the pair to bid their goodbyes. The twins attached themselves to each of her legs and proclaimed their love for her. She hugged both of them. Madelynn whispered her apologizes and Susan pulled her in for a hug.

As they retreated, Lily begged, in a broken voice, "Please don't go. You know you're the only thing saving me."

"We have to, Lil. You'll understand one day," James replied pulling her close to his body.

"You're breaking all your promises," she stated, as evenly as possible. "How could you do this? How can you lie to me like this?"

His parents called his name. He whispered urgently to her, "I have no choice in the matter. But remember that I'll always love you, Lil. Always. Please don't hurt yourself. I'll see you again soon." He refrained from promising her, since he had already broken his promises before. He kissed her once more before detaching himself from her grip and climbed into the moving truck with his father.

She watched the trunk until it disappeared from view, tears still staining her face. It took a few moments before realization that they weren't coming back sank in and she fell to the ground, sobbing. She stayed like that until the sun was getting ready to sink. She entered the empty house, finding that the Potter's had packed her things in a box for her. Pulling out the pink comforter and a pillow, she made her way towards James' old room.

The months had come and gone for Lily whether she liked it or not and each day got tougher to live. The emotional abuse wasn't getting to her any longer, her parents realized. She understood they just wanted to bring her down, therefore she wouldn't respond when they called her a mistake.

The emotional abuse rapidly increased to physical abuse. The first time she was hit was when she was backslapped for being late home from school. It honestly wasn't her fault that Jimmy disrupted the entire class.

It was a few days after that she met Severus Snape, the only other friend she made beside the Potter's. He had purposely prevented her from continuing on her way home. Sometimes she wished she would have never become his friend. All he ever did was stop her from doing the only thing she wanted to do the most. He had walked in on what her parents liked to call 'family time'. He helped her up and she told him she didn't need any help, which was the biggest lie of her life.

He didn't believe her though. Severus helping her had earned her another beating. From then on out, he made a point to visit her every day to see how she was doing. She didn't remember how many times he picked her up from the ground, she lost track weeks later. Upon realizing that she couldn't fight, he taught her the basics to keep her from getting too badly hurt.

She owed him her life and she knew it well. He had barely saved her twice from herself and once from her parents. She just couldn't understand why he wanted her alive so badly. It wasn't until her third and final attempt that she understood why he was so persistent.

He walked into her bathroom, finding her lying in the middle of a pool of her own blood. It poured from the three inch long wound on her wrist. He covered the wound with his own hand, pushing down hard, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. With his other hand, he pulled a rag down that was lying on the sink to cover the wound with.

"Lily, you need to open your eyes. Come on stay with me. Please stay with me. He'll kill me if you're not okay. Please Lily, open your eyes," he begged. When her eyes finally opened, he sighed in relief. "Keep your eyes open, Lily," he added as she tried to shut again. "Good. You're doing great, Lily. I'm going to pour something on your wrist. It's going to burn but you need to keep your eyes open for me okay?"

After spending several hours asleep, she demanded to know who Severus was talking about. He admitted to making a promise with James to keep her alive.

Since Susan and Madelynn were off at Hogwarts, it just left James to take Ryan and Raylie Trick-or-Treating for their third birthday. He would have no help from Lily. Merlin, he missed Lily. She filled his dreams at night, but he still received updates from Severus on her wellbeing. No matter how hard he tired, sleep just wasn't coming to him that night.

He sat at the end of his bed, worried that Lily wouldn't welcome him as a friend once they were at Hogwarts in less than a year. He knew what he left her to handle, but she was a strong girl. She could make it. He was pulled out of his memory by a lamp crashing down stairs. He threw the invisibility cloak that he stole from his father's room earlier that day, around his shoulders before setting off to find the source of the noise.

Madelynn and Susan were walking through the living room. A confused look crossed James' face. They were supposed to be at Hogwarts. He looked more closely at their faces, noticing the look his father had described before. They were under a curse. James took off in the direction of his parent's room. He opened their door as Madelynn screamed, "Run, Death Eaters."

His parents awoke quickly, noticing the door was open. His father quickly placed a nonverbal silencing charm on James. Realizing the twins were in trouble, he ran towards their room. He was too late. James followed his family into the living room where the Death Eaters were gathering everyone.

When they asked his family if there was anyone else, his parents lied. James couldn't move from the bottom of the staircase, where he had made it to before they started torturing his siblings. Four of the dozen Death Eaters said, "Crucio." Madelynn was silently crying, refusing to give the Death Eaters the pleasure of hearing her cry. Susan and Ryan were crying loudly. Raylie who had a few tears streaking down her face, started to scream as loud as she could.

As the clock struck midnight, the Death Eaters in turn, placed the killing curse on each of them. Raylie was the last to go, meeting James' eye before dying. "You should have joined our cause when you were asked," one stated. He was the last one to go, sending the dark mark into the sky.

James was stricken with terror and only moved when his parent called out to him. They pulled him into a tight hug. Their tears dampened James' hair. A few minutes later, Aurors from the Ministry arrive.

"Who died ma'am?" the lead detective asked James' mother. James had refused to move from his mother side.

"Madelynn Jordan Potter, Susan Faye Potter, Ryan Benjamin Potter, and Raylie Brooke Potter," his mother replied.

"Are you sure, ma'am?" he asked, scribbling the names in his notebook.

"Why do you ask?" she countered.

"There were only three bodies," he spoke slowly as if it was worse than witnessing their murders.

James' mother took a deep breathe, pulling James closer to her side. "What color are their eyes?"

When they reported back with hazel, James' heart had shattered. Raylie was the only one with crystal eyes. Not only did they kill Raylie, they took her body.

A/n- hope you enjoyed.


	4. I'm not Lily to you either, it's Evans

A/n- So I've left a few parts out, but for the most part, it's the same story. I hope you are enjoying this story thus far.

_Other news:_ Two of her friends' names have been changed. Carissa Armstrong is now Mary Macdonald and Dakota Weber is now Marlene McKinnon. These are the names that J.K. Rowling put in her books, that's why I have changed them. Sorry for the confusion.

It was a year after James left when Lily finally got her way out of her hell. The Hogwarts letter came by owl as usual along with an unplanned visit from a Professor, since she was a Muggleborn. The visit didn't go quite as planned for the Professor, Lily estimated, since he was quite frightened by her parents. Yes, they had pretended they loved her, but it was only a show for the Professor. Petunia sat in the den, in one of the armchairs, truly upset that she couldn't go.

As soon as the Professor left, her parents beat her for inviting him there. She didn't argue, knowing it was useless to attempt. When she was dismissed, she snuck out the backdoor to meet Severus in the park. The letter was held tightly in her hand. It was a miracle that she would finally be out of her personal hell.

Severus took her to Diagon Alley to help her get her school supplies. They spent hours wandering the streets, gathering the odds and ends she would need in the upcoming year. Their wands were the last thing they brought before heading back to their houses.

Once at home, she hid her supplies under a loose floorboard in her bedroom. She lay down on her bed and quickly fell asleep. Only two weeks before she would be gone from this hell for a long time. It was definitely the best gift she could get.

On September first, Severus picked Lily up. Together, they made the journey to Kings Cross for their first train trip to Hogwarts. Despite it being nearly eighty degrees outside, Lily wore a cream long sleeve shirt and a plaid skirt. Severus had long since learned that she didn't want to show her scars, so he let her be when she wore jackets and long sleeved shirts. He helped her place her trunk on the train, along with his, before setting off in an attempt to find a compartment.

One of the only compartments they found that wasn't completely full had two boys sitting in it. Lily nervously opened the door and took the seat nearest the window. Severus sat down across from her. He started talking about Houses and which one he wanted to be in. "You better be in Slytherin, Lily."

It was then that she realized she was sitting with James and his newest friend, a small boy with shaggy, nearly black hair and soft gray eyes. She freaked out slightly and pulled Severus out of the compartment, in search of a new one. It took a while, but she finally found a compartment with three girls sitting quietly inside it. When Lily asked if they could sit with them, the girls beamed at her.

She took the seat nearest the window and Severus sat furthest from her. She looked up at the girls, noticing that they could probably be the only girls she ever made friends with. The first girl looked at her, "I'm Alice Hall, by the way." She stuck her tanned hand towards Lily, waiting for her to shake. Her mousy brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail, showing off her watery blue eyes and freckles that covered her nose. Lily shook her hand and before she could reply, another one spoke up.

"I'm Mary MacDonald," she spoke softly. She swept her perfectly straight bronze hair from her soft coal eyes. Her hair fell back in her face, covering up her toothy smile. Lily nodded her head towards Mary.

"And I'm Marlene McKinnon," she stuck her hand out. She was quite different from the other girls, with blue streaked blonde curls and mystifying gray eyes.

"I'm Lily Evans. And this is my friend, Severus Snape." She smiled, before pointing to Severus, who wasn't talking. Lily would never know if it was because he was angry or if he was being shy.

The rest of the trip was enjoyable. She learned things about her friends, though she would never tell them about her own past. All too soon the announcements came on to inform them they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon. They exited the compartment, in search of bathrooms to change in. Once locked in a stall, Lily ripped off her shirt.

She grimaced at her left wrist. The two worst scars formed an "L" but they were barely visible under the discolored bruises she had received the previous night. On her right wrist was the same discolored bruises, but since she was right handed, no scars were present on it. She sighed and slipped on the white button up shirt, covering her scars, bruises, and any other evidences of her gruesome past. She slipped the tie over her head and pulled her skirt up. She changed her shoes and returned to the compartment.

She pulled her naturally curly hair into a ponytail, knowing there weren't any bruises covering her neck. She was thankful that they didn't hit her where anyone could see them anymore. As she got off the train, she heard a voice behind her, "Lily?"

She turned, knowing that voice perfectly well. Her green eyes met his hazel ones. "Go to hell, Potter," she said steadily, her voice never faltering. Before he could reply, she added, "I'm not Lily to you either, it's Evans."

Thankfully, her friends didn't hear what she spoke to James, though they did see she was talking to another person. When they asked who he was and how she knew him, she refused to answer any of their questions. Severus stayed silent, knowing he would die if he said anything about her past, including her friendship with James.

They followed Hagrid to the boats. The four girls sat together, leaving Severus to find his own boat. The castle was a sight to see. It was the biggest thing that any of the girls had ever seen. It was Lily's safe haven now. They made their way up the steps to stand in front of two huge wooden double doors. Standing in the middle of the doorway was a woman. She was well into her fifties with her graying hair and clear gray eyes. Her posture said that she didn't tolerate anything, but it was her voice that made it clear she was in charge.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she started in her clear, strong, authoritative voice. The girls linked hands, making sure they didn't lose each other in the large crowd. "Within a few minutes, you will enter the Great Hall and join your House. Before you can do that, you will be sorted into your House. There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

At that point, a group of boys had tuned the aged teacher out; instead, choosing to talk about which House they would want to be in. "I really hope I'm not in Slytherin," the dark brown haired boy spoke.

James turned to face one of his friends. "I don't think you're worthy of Slytherin, Sirius. You'll be in Gryffindor," he reassured his friend.

"Gryffindor will be the best House for me, I should think," Sirius replied. He turned his attention to the boy looking up at the Professor, who had dirty light brown hair and shining bluish gray eyes. "Which House would you like to be in, Remus?"

Remus quieted Sirius, telling him to listen to the Professor. Before long, the Professor led the group of new first years through the double doors. The girls had paired off in groups of two, holding each other's hand tightly. Lily was holding Alice's hand for dear life. The guys started to laugh quietly at something Sirius muttered. Once grouped back together, in front of the teacher's table, Marlene took ahold of Lily's hand once more. Directly in front of them, a hat sat on the stool.

"One by one, I will call your name. You will sit on the stool and I will place the Hat on your head. Once sorted, you will join your house. Let's get started," she unrolled the parchment in her hands. She read off the first name. "Hall, Alice."

With one last squeeze, Alice walked cautiously up to the stool. She sat down and as promised, the Professor placed the tattered hat on her head. After a few seconds of debate, she became the first new Gryffindor. They clapped as she sat down at the Gryffindor table.

There were a few names in between Alice and when the Professor called, "Macdonald, Mary." Mary let go of Marlene's hand and walked confidently up to the stool. She became a Gryffindor. She took her seat next to Alice as the Professor called out, "Lupin, Remus."

The hat was placed on his head by the Professor, before he, too, joined the girls at Gryffindor's table. Sirius was called next. The boy that shared a compartment with James on the ride there made his way up the steps and seated himself on the stool. After a few minutes of debate, the longest by far, he was placed in Gryffindor. The Gryffindor table roared with applause, while Slytherin and the teachers were too stunned to clap.

Lily's name was the next to be called. She let go of Marlene's hand and sat down on the stool. She felt the material of the hat on her head before she heard its voice. "You, my dear, have a complicated mind. A great mind hindered by years of abuse. I've never seen someone as broken as you. Gryffindor will do you well, even though you are quite worthy of Ravenclaw. I see you would go the extra mile to hide your past from others, which is a virtue of Slytherin. But being a Muggleborn, placing you there wouldn't be a wise decision. Your trust issues hinder you from being a Hufflepuff. Since you have experienced what you have, I am placing you in GRYFFINDOR," it shouted finally.

The hat was removed and she bounced off towards the cheering Gryffindor table. She turned back towards the sorting. Marlene was sorted into Gryffindor next. But once James was called, Lily turned her head, not wanting to look in his direction. Much to her disappointment, he was named a Gryffindor.

When Severus was sorted, he glared in Lily's direction. He was angry that she hadn't picked Slytherin, like he told her to. He made his way to the Slytherin table. Peter joined the boys at the Gryffindor table after his sorting.

It was completely apparent that both Marlene and Sirius were from pureblood families, Lily realized. Everything the pair did was done with elegance and grace.

After eating, Professor Dumbledore had dismissed them. The sixth and seventh year prefects showed the group of first years the way to the portrait. The group of girls made their way up to their dorm. After a long, torturous day, Lily fell on her bed and was asleep within moments.

The first week at school was uneventful. Lily spent all of her spare time in the library, looking up spells to help cover her predominate bruises and ugly scars. Severus rarely spoke to her, but her friends helped her adjust to Hogwarts rather well. The only disappointing part of being there was James was everywhere she went.

He had tried to talk to her several times, but she would brush him off like he was invisible. He just had to be there. This was what he meant when he said "I'll see you soon", Lily realized. He must have known she was a witch.

It took a while, but she learned the spells necessary to cover the evidence of her past. The next day, she rolled her sleeves up. Her scars no longer were present and the bruises were gone. It was the best feeling in the world for her to look at her wrists and not see the reminders of her past.

A/n- How did you like? Next chapter will be September 1st when they are seventh years.


	5. I don't have a sister

A/n- so this might be a little confusing, but I have skipped to their seventh year. That is right. It is now the beginning of their seventh year. Sorry if there is any confusion here.

Lily pushed any memory of her childhood behind her as she stepped onto the platform. She stood in the middle of the platform, looking for her best friends, in her school robes with the Head Girl badge pinned to the front of them. She could feel a pair of eyes on her, judging her next move. She didn't have to turn around to know that it was in fact James Potter's hazel eyes staring interestingly at her. Any other thoughts of James Potter was pushed to the back of her head as Alice Hall had spotted her, signaling to her other two best friends.

They squealed quiet loudly as they rushed her way. Before she had a chance to brace herself for their hugs, their arms wrapped around her. Thankfully, they didn't notice her body flinch away from their touches. When they brought up her summer, she evaded it, choosing instead to talk about their summers.

She pulled the sleeves of her shirt and overcoat more securely around her wrists. Mary held on to her hand, comforting Lily slightly as she needed to know someone was there for her. They made their way to the Marauders' compartment. It was in fact the Marauders' compartment, since they had placed a plaque above it, claiming that compartment for themselves and their closest friends. Lily didn't want to be around James Potter any longer than she had to be, but since Mary had started to date Remus in the previous year, the group of girls hung out with the Marauders more than Lily liked to.

She greeted Remus like a best friend, which, judging by James' reaction, James was jealous of. It was the same way she used to greet him. Remus talked idly of his summer before Sirius joined in the conversation, speaking eagerly of the adventures James and himself had during their summer. James stayed silent, letting Sirius inform every one of their activities.

It was unusual for James to stay so quiet, Lily noted. His eyes were adverted down, as if he was interested in his shoes. He didn't look up when someone was talking; he was in his own world. Only when Remus spoke to James did he said anything. James didn't even look up as Remus softly said, "James, remember you have Head's meeting before the Prefect meeting."

Lily's eyes widened at the realization of James being Head Boy. She would've thought that it would be Remus to get the position, since he was a Prefect and the best one out of the Marauders. She didn't mention her frustration with him becoming a Head; instead, she silently made her way to the Head's compartment. The Head's compartment was, by far, the largest compartment on the train. It was spacious enough to hold the twenty-four Prefects along with both Heads.

Inside the Head's compartment sat Professor McGonagall, her hands folded in her lap. Her eyes too looked troubled. When the door shut, McGonagall looked up, smiling despite the look in her eyes. "Welcome. I had the pleasure of picking two of the finest students in Hogwarts. Not only are you two the best amongst your peers, but you are both from my house this year. This hasn't happened in years, mind you. I expect my decision not be made in vain," Professor McGonagall spoke; her voice never rose above a whisper.

"In a few minutes, you will speak to this year's Prefects, as this year's Head Boy and Girl. You are to inform them of their duties and House passwords," she continued, not allowing any room for them to speak. "I expect the best out of you two. I know you both have your past issues, but it is necessary to push them behind you. But Mr. Potter, I would like to speak to you in private after the meeting."

After they both nodded, she told them the passwords before exiting the compartment. James sat down, opting to stare out the window instead. James only spoke once, "Evans, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. You'll be better at this since you've been to these meetings before." Lily stood, thinking of what needed to be said during the meeting. James would be no help to her.

They were both pulled out of their thoughts by the compartment door sliding open. Lily inhaled deeply before standing next to Potter. Slowly, one by one, the Prefect's filed in the compartment. Next to her, she could hear James breathe heavily. After they all sat down, Lily started. "Hey, I'm Lily Evans. I am your Head Girl," her voice grew more confident with each word she spoke.

"I'm James Potter," James added. "And I'm your Head Boy. Welcome to this year's Prefects meeting."

"There really isn't a lot to talk about, but let's get down to business. First, there is the patrolling schedule. Groups of two Prefects are required to patrol the hallways three a week, every week. Behind me is a master schedule. After the meeting, I require you to place your name in three slots for each week. This doesn't mean that it can't be switched; it is just to give us an idea of the patrolling schedule. Also, this doesn't mean that you have to patrol the same day every week if you don't want to. It is very flexible," Lily said.

"Next," James started. "Ms. Evans is walking around with slips of parchment. This parchment contains the first password for your House. It is vital that you don't let anyone see that password. It means that any person can get into your House. I might add it wouldn't be a bad idea to burn it after reading it. If you don't know the spell to burn it, like I know most fifth years don't," he made a point to nod towards Remus and Lily. "Find a sixth or seventh year to burn it for you. A Prefect would be the preferable option. Or you could have Ms. Evans or myself burn it for you."

"Finally, our first meeting is on the third Wednesday," Lily called out from inside the crowd. She made her way up to the front. "But it is required that two Prefects patrol the train at all times. Since Potter and myself were sent the names of the Prefects, we generated a list of people to patrol the train. You only have to patrol for thirty minutes before you get the next set of Prefects."

"I think that is it," James said. "Isn't it, Evans?" When Lily nodded her agreement, he added, "You are free to go, but remember to sign up for patrol times. If you don't, we'll pick for you."

They all shuffled around, either talking to their friends or signing up for patrol times. Remus clapped James on the shoulder, "You did great for a first timer, Prongs." They laughed. "But you had to give me first patrol on the train, didn't you, Lily?"

She smiled at Remus, "Yes. I trusted you would help the first years find compartments." Remus rolled his eyes before leaving. Lily turned on her heels and returned to her friends. She took her seat between Alice and Mary. It took James a little longer to make it back to the compartment, than it did Lily.

"Sorry, Minnie wanted to talk to me," James said to Sirius, who was flirting with Marlene.

"What about, mate?" Sirius asked. But when James refused, Sirius let the conversation drop. "Anyone up for a game of Exploding Snap?"

Remus was patrolling the train when he saw a first year girl walking down the hallway. She seemed to be looking in each compartment, glancing to see if she noticed someone inside. Remus approached her nervously. "Hey, can I help you?" he asked softly.

"I'm looking for my brother and his girlfriend. I haven't seen them in a while," she whispered.

Something about the girl seemed familiar. Her long raven hair was pulled back in a ponytail. The blue dress she was wearing matched perfectly with the ribbon around her hair and her icy blue eyes. Her icy blue eyes flickered at Remus before glancing in the next compartment. "Who's your brother?" Remus tried again. He couldn't place why she looked so familiar.

"James, after our Grandfather, of course," she replied.

"James who?" Remus only knew one James, but he spoke nothing of having a sister.

"James Potter, silly," she laughed, the same laugh James had.

Before Remus replied with what was really on his mind, he agreed to take her to James. They stopped when the other Prefect passed. "I'm helping this girl. Could you get the next two Prefects for me, please? I owe you." Once they reached the Marauders' compartment, Remus told the small girl to wait outside.

"Why didn't you tell us you have a sister?" Remus demanded.

The entire compartment fell silent as James replied, "I don't have a sister." The group was too wrapped up in the situation Remus brought to light to notice Lily looking at James with a confused look on her face.

"Yes, you do. She's standing outside looking for you and your girlfriend," Remus raised his eyebrow at his friend, as to say, try to deny it.

"What does she look like?" James finally asked.

"She's wearing a blue dress with black hair and blue eyes," Remus described. "Why?"

"Don't let her in," James replied stiffly. He started to chant softly, "She's dead, James. Don't get your hopes up."

Finally, Lily spoke, "What is something that only you and Raylie would know?"

Both Lily and James ignored Mary as she pointed out that Remus never said Raylie's name. "She would know everything," James said shortly. "I'm going to talk to her. Thanks, Lily."

James talked softly with the girl for quite some time before returning to his seat. "Moony, will you find her a compartment with other first years, please?"

It took Remus a little while before he entered the compartment. "You are telling us what the hell just happened as soon as we get to a more secure location, Prongs," he ordered. James nodded and suggested the Head's common room.

No one mentioned the incident the rest of the trip. The group had pushed it to the back of their minds. They played exploding snaps and chess for the remainder of the trip.

Once they finally reached Hogwarts, everyone was on edge. James wasn't paying attention as his three best friends tried to talk to him. They rode silently to Hogwarts, waiting impatiently for the explanation. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table. The hall was silenced as Professor McGonagall entered, walking in front of the new first years.

James pointedly looked away from the group of first years, not wanting to look at his sister. One by one, Professor McGonagall called the nervous looking first years up to the stool to get Sorted. But the hall busted out in noise when she called, "Potter, Raylie."

Whispers sounded throughout the hall, making James feel sick. Professor Dumbledore silenced them by taking a spoon to his glass. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on Raylie's head. After a few seconds of deliberation, it screeched, "Hufflepuff!"

The hall exploded in a round of applause as Raylie skipped off to the Hufflepuff table. James finally turned his attention to the front. He watched silently as the rest of the first years were Sorted into their respective houses. Professor McGonagall took her seat to Dumbledore's left.

Dumbledore stood. "First and foremost, welcome new students and returning students. I would like to remind first years, and the Marauders," he turned his sparkling blues eyes on the group of boys,-"that the Forbidden Forest is, in fact, forbidden. Please don't lose any house points because of it. Also, no magic is allowed in the hallways and between classes. Zonko products are banned from usage around the school. Anyone caught with such items on them are subject to detentions. I think that is all, so tuck in."


	6. It looks like you need help

A/n- Yes, I know this is slightly different than my other story, but I did warn you beforehand.

After Professor Dumbledore had given the permission to go to bed, the hall had livened up tremendously. As Head Boy and Girl, Lily and James made their way to the fourth floor corridor where their common room was located. But knowing that both of them still needed to explain what went on during the train ride; their friends were following them closely. Remus had even skipped out on showing the first years to the Gryffindor common room so he could understand it.

They stood in the middle of the fourth floor corridor, right in front of a knight riding a horse. Before the portrait could ask for the password, James whispered, "Godric's Hallow."

"Correct," it stated before swinging open to reveal the common room. Since this year's Head's had been chosen from the same house, the room was decorated in Gryffindor red and gold. A red couch sat in front of the fire place with two plush golden chairs at either end. A coffee table was positioned in between the fire place and the couch. A seat overlooked the grounds, mainly the Quidditch field. On either side of the portrait hole were two wooden doors, their names written elegantly on them.

They didn't explore their rooms, which would be saved until later that night. This explanation was more important to all of them. Since there weren't enough seats for everyone, Remus conjured another couch for the guys to sit on. The girls had already taken the couch and James and Lily sat in the armchairs.

Once everyone was seated, Lily asked, "You said you didn't have a sister when Remus asked. Why?"

Lily and James were entirely oblivious to anyone other than each other. "I said that because it's true. They were killed years ago. But you must have known. I know you must have realized they weren't here," James breathed heavily.

"Yes, I noticed they weren't here. But I swear I didn't know they were killed. I thought it was suspicious they weren't here," Lily replied, not looking him directly in the eyes. It would be her downfall if she did, she just knew it.

"Why didn't you ask where they were? Or why they weren't here if you were suspicious?" James demanded to know.

"We weren't best friends anymore. My life was mine and your life was yours. I wasn't going to pry," she replied softly.

"We weren't friends because you didn't want to be," James cried out, clearly frustrated at Lily. He ran his hand through his thick raven hair.

"You broke your promises and you still wonder why I didn't want to anymore," Lily declared.

By this time everyone was glancing back and forth between the two, trying to understand what was going on. James had already taken off his overcoat and rolled up his sleeves. Lily, on the other hand had just taken off her overcoat. "It was for your own safety, for my family's safety. We had no other logical option," he growled at her. "We had another option but I couldn't deal with the guilt if my family would be the reason you were killed."

"Sometimes, I think I would've been better off dead," Lily whispered.

"Don't say that, Lily," James begged. "Please don't say that."

"It's the truth," Lily shrugged her shoulders slightly, masking the wince she almost made. The previous night's fight had left her with a few cracked ribs and bruises covering three-fourths of her body. She didn't expect to have this conversation with James or she would've healed herself before coming here.

James studied her face, noticing the hint of pain she tried desperately to hide. His eyes flickered to her wrist. He had been curious about that since first year when Severus had told him to take a close look at it. "Show me your wrist," he stated after an awkward pause.

She hid her surprise well, James noted as she shook her head, "No." One simple word nearly broke her cover as her voice almost cracked. "How did you know something was there anyways?"

"You just confirmed it. But I received friendly advice a while back," he shrugged, leaning forward.

She laughed, "Oh, that's right. Your spy told you."

"He wasn't my spy. But I just want to see your wrist," James said softly, standing up. When she shook her head again, he grabbed her hand.

"You don't need to see it. Please, James, I promise you. You don't need to see it," Lily begged him, but didn't fight his hand away. If they weren't too caught up in the moment, their friends might have realized that she called him by his first name.

As James held on to her hand and expertly unbuttoned her shirt's sleeve, she turned away, squeezing her eyes closed. He rolled her sleeve up, revealing her wrist to all their friends. Gasps filled the room as they gazed at her wrist. The L shaped scar was the most predominate, but shallow, straight marks lined her wrist. They spanned from the beginning of the L to the crease of her elbow. Some were more faded than others, but still barely visible under the discolored bruises.

"Damn it, Lily," James growled at her as he let go of her hand. "I thought you would've been smarter than that."

"I guess I'm not as smart as you think I am, James," she snarled at him.

"What the hell, Lily?" Alice demanded. "What have you done to yourself?"

"Nothing," she whispered, her voice cracking. She shook her head and looked at the ground, not wanting to see the looks of disappointment in her friends' eyes.

"If you call that nothing, you have serious issues," Sirius said. "They looked like a lot more than just nothing. It looks like you need help."

"Why did you do that to yourself?" James questioned, his voice betrayed his guilt.

"You wouldn't understand," Lily whispered.

"I'm here and I'm trying my hardest to understand, Lily, but you have to help me out. You have to trust me," James put his hand under her chin, forcing her to look at her.

"You knew what they said to me. You knew how it killed me on the inside. But after you left, I was numb. I couldn't feel the words eating at me anymore. I was glad it no longer hurt when they called me a mistake or a bitch. But unfortunately for me, they weren't happy that their words were no longer getting to me. They waited for me to step out of line, to do the wrong thing just once so they could properly punish me," Lily muttered, glancing around. She tried to judge her friends reaction but their faces were blank.

"They hit you, didn't they?" James asked. "If they did, so help me God, I will kill them."

"They did but it's not worth killing them over," Lily nodded. "When I turn seventeen, I will hex them to Hell and back before wiping their memories."

"Who hit you?" Marlene spoke for the first time. Her voice broke the silence Lily had created.

"Her parents," James sighed.

Lily corrected him by saying, "It was my mother and step-father. My mother cheated on my step-father with my biological father. I found out when I was thirteen. She cheated on him with a red-headed Hungarian. He would've never known if I wasn't splitting image of my father. They hated me because I was the thing that almost tore apart their perfect marriage. I was the evidence my mother wasn't happy with my step-father. They took out their anger on me."

"Still it couldn't have been bad enough for you to try and kill yourself," James raised his eyebrow at her.

"You know you're very lucky you had him spying on me. If you didn't, I would have died. Is that why you hated him so much? Was it because he didn't protect me as well as you would've liked? Or was it because he was there when you couldn't be?" Lily asked sweetly.

"He wasn't my spy, Lily. He was insurance. Insurance to make sure you wouldn't die," James ran his hand through his hair.

"So you knew it might escalade?" Lily demanded to know. "And you still left me there."

"I had no choice, Lily. Why can't you understand that? There was no other way to do it. If we didn't leave, Voldemort would've killed you and half the neighborhood. My parents couldn't deal with the responsibility of anyone's death. They can hardly handle the guilt of my sibling's deaths," James growled at her. "You don't know how it feels when my parents can't even look me in the eyes without feeling guilty."

"What happened? It probably wasn't their fault, Prongs," Remus asked softly.

"They didn't side with Voldemort when he asked them to. We went into hiding for a while, away from Muggles. Madelynn and Susan were at Hogwarts, as safe as they could be. It only left Raylie, Ryan, and myself with Mum and Dad at our house. It was two minutes before Halloween when they busted in our house," James sighed, not really wanting to explain how it happened.

"Not on their birthday," Lily gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Yes. You see, Madelynn had found the passage of the one-eyed witch. She snuck Susan to Hogsmeade with her for the Halloween trip. Death Eaters attacked and captured them. They then tortured them until they knew everything they needed to know to get to our house. I had the Cloak that I hid under. I was frozen in place as they used the Cruciatus curse on each of them. They proceeded to kill them, saying that they should've joined their cause while they had the chance," James whispered.

Strings of 'I'm sorry' and 'I'm sorry, mate' rang through the common room. James shook his head. "It doesn't matter now, that was eight years ago. I used to wonder why they took Raylie's body, but I guess I now know."

"Why didn't either of you tell us about your past, together and apart?" Mary asked.

"It's not the easiest topic to talk about if you haven't noticed. How was your summer? Oh, well it was terrific except that my parents hate me and try to kill me each time I see them. What a lovely way to start a conversation," Lily replied sarcastically.

"So this guy gets to know all about your past, yet you can't even tell your best friends? I really see where I come in at in your mind." Alice glared at Lily.

"I didn't even want him to know. He stumbled in during family time. I earned myself another beating for his disrupter. Do you honestly think I wanted anyone to know that my own mother hates me so much she would rather kill me?" Lily demanded to know. "I made him vow not to tell anyone about anything he saw, heard, or mended."

"How long were you planning to keep this from us?" Marlene asked, looking up to meet Lily's eyes.

"I wasn't expecting to keep it from you this long but again it isn't the easiest conversation to have." Lily glanced down, refusing to meet her eyes.

"I thought we could trust each other with everything, but I guess we can't," Alice replied, standing up.

"You don't understand. See it from my view point. It's shameful that my parents hate me. I just didn't want you all to look at me with sympathy and pity in your eyes," Lily cried out. They just didn't understand her hesitation to tell them. Why couldn't they just understand? "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Okay, is that what you want to hear? That I'm sorry I wanted people to be friends with me for me and not because they felt sorry for me?"

"We wouldn't ever be friends with you just because we felt sorry for you," Mary replied. "We would just form a plan to get as much revenge on your parents as possible."

Alice pulled Lily up by the arm and they all hugged her. They didn't notice her flinching away from them. "So does that mean we all get to hex your parents?" Sirius' eyes gleamed. James rolled his eyes and everyone else just laughed. "What? I'm being serious!"

"You're always Sirius, mate," James slung his arm over Sirius' shoulder.

"Shove it," Sirius growled at James.

"Does this mean that you two are friends again?" Alice asked, silencing the laughter that erupted from everyone.

"I guess so." Lily smiled at James.

A/n- Yay, it's a long chapter :) I hope you all enjoyed. Please review.


	7. I'm receiving none, Mr Black

A/n- So I reread all the reviews for the first time I posted this story. I was completely surprised to see that tons of people really loved this story, despite my inability to have proper grammar and spelling. I have grown as a writer since I first posted on Fanfiction. I am paying more attention to editing and everything like that, I promise. I hope this is ten times better than the original.

They sat down at the Gryffindor table the next morning, as if nothing happened the previous night. The hall stared at them in shock as Lily sat in between James and Alice. When Professor McGonagall made it to them, her eyes sparkled with humor, knowing she would be collecting bet money later that day. She passed out their schedule and turned to leave when Sirius said, happily, "Thanks Minnie. How much money are you getting this afternoon?"

She turned back on Sirius, a smile playing on her lips. "I'm receiving none, Mr. Black. And I'm not Minnie to you. Next time you call me that I will make sure you don't play on Gryffindor team for the rest of the season."

Sirius laughed at her, not noticing how serious she was being. They glanced at their schedules, trying to figure out which classes they would have together. They finished their breakfast of eggs, bacon, and pancakes before heading off to their first period. They settled in their chairs, waiting for Professor Flitwick to start seventh year Charms.

Professor Flitwick climbed up on his stack of books, trying to make himself tall enough to see his students. When he noticed that the Marauders and the group of girls were sitting together, he frowned slightly. He muttered something about having to pay McGonagall before talking loud enough for the rest of the class to hear, "Welcome to NEWT's level Charms. This year is going to be harder than any year before you have. You will be tested on all of your knowledge from not only this year but all of your previous years as well. Well, let's get started."

The group practiced charms that they should've learned to master in previous years. After two hours of practicing previous charms, Professor Flitwick released them. "Thank Merlin. I thought that class would go on forever. I'm starving," Sirius said, dramatically.

"It's called double Charms for a reason, Padfoot. Well, I guess I'll see you all later, Lily and I have Ancient Runes," Remus said, turning down a hallway. "Prongs, will you make sure Padfoot gets to his next class?"

James pretended to solute Remus before heading off in the direction of Muggle Studies. "Padfoot, when is Quidditch try-outs?" James turned to his friend. Sirius had become Quidditch Captain this year.

"Do you boys talk about anything other than Quidditch?" Mary asked, walking beside Marlene who seemed to be wrapped up in her conversation with Alice.

"Yes, it just so happens that we also talk about girls," Sirius replied, waggling his eyebrows towards Mary. Mary rolled her eyes at Sirius and interjected herself into Marlene's and Alice's conversation. "I have to talk to Minnie to see when I can book the Quidditch field. But I'll let you and Marlene know when it will be. You can help me pick the new members since we need a Chaser, a Keeper, and a Beater."

They silenced their conversation as they entered the Muggle Studies classroom. They didn't know why they were still taking this subject, but it was entertaining to Lily to try and explain to them what an object was.

After an hour of class they were free for lunch. They made their way noisily towards the hall, starving for food. They had received a twelve inch roll to write about a Muggle telephone while Lily and Remus had two pages of runes to translate. "It's only the first day back and we have homework already," Marlene groaned as she piled food on her plate.

"Good thing we have a free period before double Potions," Lily said.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Please don't remind me we have two hours of Potions."

Lily laughed and finished her lunch. "So are we meeting in the Head's common room?" Sirius asked after he finished. James nodded and Sirius stood up. "Good, I need to talk to Minnie. I'll see you in the common room then."

Lily stood up and started heading back towards the Head's common room. Her friends quickly caught up. "Godric's Hollow," Lily stated to the portrait before it swung open. She slung her backpack on the couch and sat on the floor before the coffee table. Everyone followed her example and spread out their work on their coffee table. The only conversation that happened was Remus and Lily talking about what runes meant what and James and Marlene arguing over the telephone.

"That's the side the Muggle talks into," James insisted.

"No, that's upside down," Marlene disagreed. "See that picture."

"You're looking at it upside down," James pointed at it.

The argument went on like that for a good fifteen minutes before Sirius busted in. "Quidditch try-outs are on the third Saturday this month," he announced, before throwing himself dramatically on the floor.

James nodded and finished writing his roll of parchment. Lily and Remus were talking about possible dates to visit Hogsmeade, since Prefects and Heads needed to decide that quickly. Marlene packed her things up. "Come on guys we need to get to Potions before we're late."

Alice and Mary groaned before following their friends out the doors. Peter met up with the group as they neared the Dungeons. Since Peter barely passed his OWL's, he was stuck in most remedial classes, except for Potions. He managed to pass Potions with flying colors.

Peter took the seat next to Sirius, the next best brewer, since Mary had taken over sitting with her boyfriend. Alice sat down next to Marlene, mouthing good luck, as James sat down next to Lily. "Just so you know, I'm a terrible brewer," James reminded her as he took his seat.

"Good thing I know how to brew," Lily smiled. Slughorn entered the classroom from his office, smiling as he noticed James and Lily sitting together. He muttered something about Professor Flitwick owing him money as he wrote on the board. He greeted everyone warmly as he started class. They spent the rest of the period writing notes.

Once the bell rang, Slughorn called out happily, "Twelve inches on the proper way to brew Amortentia. Due next time I see you."

Alice groaned. "Why did I let you talk me into taking NEWT's level Potions?" she demanded, turning on Lily. "I barely passed OWL's level."

"You're the one that wanted to be an Auror," Lily replied. "But you'll be fine."

"Says the girl that passed OWL's Potions with an O," Alice grumbled.


	8. You only think I was killed

A/n- I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Right now, I'm trying to make it not seem so rushed. So this chapter is Quidditch try-outs and threats towards Lily.

For the most part, the first month of school was going by without any difficulties. The group studied in the Head's common room, since the Gryffindor common room was full of noisy underclassmen. The teachers had loaded them down with tons of homework that took hours to complete. On top of all the homework they were required to do, James, Lily, and Remus had Prefect/Head duties to attend to.

It was Saturday, one of the only days that they had off. The weather was perfect with the sun shining brightly and the wind blowing slightly. The group had migrated outside to enjoy the weather. The girls sat under the big tree nearest to the lake with Remus. James and Sirius were out on the Quidditch pitch, testing out the newest recruits for the Gryffindor team.

Besides Marlene, James and Sirius were the only two seventh years left on the team; they were the only ones that had been on since their second year. Marlene had joined the team as a third year. Sirius stood in front of the group of new recruits; most of them were third and fourth girls that had joined Sirius' or James' fan club.

Sirius sighed and glanced at James, "Why does it have to be mostly girls from our fan clubs?" James laughed and Sirius amplified his voice. "Okay. Welcome to try-outs for the Gryffindor's Quidditch team. We're going to start with five laps around the pitch. Those of you who can't keep up will be required to land and leave. If you make it past that, you will break off in groups according to what position you'll be trying out for. Mount up!"

Most of the people did as they were told. By the end of the five laps around, three-fourths of the giggling girls had already left. When Sirius gave the command to land, he was delighted to see not too many people were left. "Group up!" he called. "Keepers will try-out first, followed by Chasers and finally Beaters." He turned to James, "Marlene and I will be testing the Keepers, so I need to you to keep an eye out for which one is the best."

James nodded and one by one the Keepers tried to block as many goals as possible. James sat on his broom, acting as the referee and kept count of how many goals each person saved. It was slightly distracting that their fan clubs had taken seats in the stands. He kept track as best he could and when the dozen or so people had finished, he landed on the ground. Sirius landed next to him.

"So, did one stand out to you?" he questioned. "The sixth one to go surely stood out to me." James nodded and Sirius called the orders to the people trying out for the open Chaser positions. James watched the left handed goals while Sirius watched the right. The two best Keepers had the opportunity to save as many of the goals thrown at them as possible.

It was well after noon before they reached the Beaters try-outs. They laughed as some of the recruits missed hitting the Bludger, while others swung hard enough to send it flying towards the goals. They finally finished well after lunch. "Those who made the team will be posted in the Common Room tomorrow. Thank you," Sirius called.

They started up towards the castle, "I'm famished. Lunch is probably over by now. Do you want to hit the Kitchen up?" Sirius asked.

"You two know where the Kitchen is?" Marlene asked. When James nodded, she added, "Good thing because I'm hungry too." They spotted their friends before reaching the castle. Marlene pulled the boys with her as she approached her friends. "I thought you four would be inside the common room by now or at least eating lunch," Marlene noted as she helped Mary into the standing position.

"Why haven't you all gone in yet?" James asked, extending his hand to Lily. She took a hold of it and he pulled her up.

"It was cool outside. We might as well soak up the nice weather while we can," Alice replied. She dusted the grass off her clothes and when everyone was standing, they headed back inside the castle. "But I'm starving and we missed lunch," she groaned.

A mischievous smirk crossed Sirius' face as he replied, "No we haven't."

Instead of asking what he meant, the girls just followed them wordlessly. They were the Marauders after all and they could do anything they thought of. So they followed them, listening to Sirius and James talk about the best ones for their Quidditch team. The boys were so absorbed in the conversation; they forgot where they were going so Remus stepped forward and tickled the pear. The pear immediately turned into a handle and Remus urged the girls inside.

"How didn't we know this was here?" Mary asked as she sat down.

Sirius flashed a smile at her, "Up until now, it was just a Marauders' secret. So if you tell anyone, we'll have to kill you." Mary rolled her eyes and the House Elf appeared. "Hey, can we get some lunch and pumpkin juice?" Sirius asked, forgetting to say please. Alice was about to say something when the House Elf replied. Being a pureblood, Sirius was accustomed to not being polite to the House Elves.

"It will be Polly's pleasure, Mr. Black," the House Elf bowed to him and scurried off to gather the other House Elves.

It took a while before the food appeared before them, but when it did, they all scarfed it down. Only after their stomachs were full did they head back to the common room.

Heading to Ancient Runes by herself was something that she didn't fear yet she didn't exactly enjoy it. Since Remus was sick in the hospital wing, she was alone to face James' angry fan club. She cursed the full moon for being the previous night but continued on anyways.

"I know what you're doing and I want it to stop now." A girl appeared at her side. Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes at her. She was another one of the dozen of girls in James' fan club at Hogwarts, just another girl that wanted James' heart. She was a beautiful girl with amber eyes and flowing dark brown hair. "It's not right to play his heart like that. You don't even like him," she added. "If you don't stop, I will stop you."

Lily really hated when Remus was sick. Girls came up and threatened her every day when she was alone. She didn't tell James about it because she thought she could handle it. But two girls, presumably the fan club leaders, sat down next to her at dinner. James was in the middle of a conversation with Sirius, Peter, and Remus so they didn't notice the girls' glare at Lily.

"We don't like what you're doing," the taller, blonde one spoke first. She flipped her perfectly straight blonde hair over her shoulder and focused her blue eyes on Lily.

"He isn't a game to be played," the other one added. She was slightly chubbier than the first girl with wavy black hair and nearly black eyes. "If you don't stop, we will stop you."

James turned on the girls quickly, realizing what was going on. The hall became eerily silent as James growl at the girls, "If you and the rest of the fan club don't back off of Lily, you won't like the consequences." The girls left moments after giving James a pouting look, returning back to their respective House tables and the hall resumed their conversations. "When will those girls ever learn that we don't like them?" he asked Sirius.

"I don't think they will, Prongs," Sirius sighed, shoveling food in his mouth.

Less than a week later, James was walking to class by himself. "James," a girl squealed in a high pitched voice, bringing James out of his thoughts. James turned to see Raylie standing behind him. She was wearing her robes with a yellow ribbon tied around her raven hair. She turned her icy blue eyes on him, judging his next move calmly.

"Raylie?" he greeted, though it turned out more like a question.

Raylie didn't miss the slight hesitation or the questioning tone in his voice. "You hesitated," she stated. "Why?"

"I think I have the right to hesitate when I watched you die," James replied. He met her blue eyes, thinking about how she had met his the night she was killed. He couldn't get the image out of his head.

"You only think I was killed. I escaped and a nice couple in the States took me in. We only moved back when I got my letter," she shrugged.

He decided to believe her and engulfed her in a hug. "I've missed you so much," he breathed in her hair, which smelled like strawberry. It was like a dream come true to have his beloved sister back, even if it was just her and not the rest of his siblings.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "As have I." Her eyes flickered from black to their normal blue.

A/n- hmm, took a lot longer to write this chapter than expected. I just couldn't find inspiration to finish it. But it's finished and I don't like it.


	9. What happened to us?

A/n- As I mentioned last chapter, I completely hated how last chapter turned out. It took a while to gain the inspiration to finish it. I wrote several challenges to help get over the small writers block I faced, which helped obviously because I finished it. Only took me over a week to finish.

They sat in the Head's common room, completely bored. Their homework had been surprisingly finished. Mary was leaning against Remus' shoulder and Sirius was lying on the floor, sighing quite loudly. He propped his head up on his elbow and looked to his best friends. "I'm bored. We need to do something," he announced loudly, disrupting the silence that had engulfed them. When he was prompted to give and idea, he answered, "Let's play True or Dare."

James rolled his eyes, knowing that Sirius absolutely loved to play the Muggle game. "Well, we don't have enough people to make it truly exciting and I'm pretty sure Minnie wouldn't be happy if we played it in here. Let's go to the Gryffindor common room and see who all wants to play," James negotiated with Sirius.

Sirius agreed and they made their way up to the Gryffindor common room. The common room, which was filled with mostly fifth year students and up, looked up at them. It was very unusual to see the Marauders and the group of girls in the common room before bedtime, since they spent a majority of their free time in the Head's common room with Lily and James. "Who wants to play True or Dare?" Sirius called out.

"If you're not playing, I ask you not to bother those who are. If you are playing, please form a circle in the middle of the room," Marlene yelled over the chatter.

Twenty-two people sat in a circle, including Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Frank, Alice, Marlene, and Mary. "The rules," James started as two bottles were passed around, "are that you must complete the dare you are given. If you don't want to do the dare you are given, you're out. If you decide you don't want to answer the truth, truthfully, then you may ask for a dare instead."

The bottle went around the circle before someone asked, "Who's going first?"

"Mary should go first," Sirius raised his eyebrow at her, as if to ask her to disagree.

Mary rolled her eyes at Sirius, but chose not to say anything about it. "Michael," Mary addressed a sixth year, turning to face the sandy haired, blue eyed boy. He nodded when she said his name, showing that he had understood her. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he said confidently, his eyes shown with amusement.

Mary thought momentarily before asking, "Who was your first kiss?"

"Felicia White," he answered, not caring what others thought. Though, the blush that crept on his face did betray his confidence. "James Potter?"

"Dare," James said without hesitation. He was always ready to take a dare. He was a Marauder after all and Marauders were always fearless.

"Show up tomorrow for breakfast in your boxers and ask McGonagall if she likes them," he finally decided.

"Okay?" he said warily. That was one of the stupidest dares he had been given.

The game went on for hours. Finally around one, only James, Brooke, Lily, Mary, Marlene, Sirius, Killian and Remus remained.

"James?" Brooke asked, sweetly

"Truth," James said after answering to all the dares.

"Where was your first kiss?" she asked quietly.

James' eyes landed on Lily before he answered, "Middle of a forest, next to a lake, in the pouring rain, when I was ten. Killian, truth or dare?" James requested, after his reply

"Truth," she answered, not wanting James to give her a crazy dare.

"Aw I wanted to dare you. Anyways, why don't you do dare?" James pouted slightly

"Because you're a Marauder and I don't want your dare," she answered. "Lily?"

"Dare," Lily smirked.

"I dare you to kiss Mary," Killian said with an evil grin on her face. Lily leaned a little over, kissing Mary's cheek. "That isn't what I meant," Killian complained.

"You never said that," Lily argued. "Marlene, truth or dare?"

"Dare," she said in a bored tone.

"I dare you to leave the circle."

"You're mean," Marlene complained. Marlene got up leaving Lily, James, Brooke, Killian, Remus, and Sirius.

"Sirius," Lily said again.

"Truth," he answered, fearfully.

"Who do you like?" Lily asked, an evil grinned flashed across her face.

Sirius groaned, "Really, Lily? Marlene."

"I'm getting tired of this. I'll see you later," James said before anyone could object. He stood and exited the portrait hole.

Lily wasn't paying attention to the rest of the game. She was staring out the window. A hand waved in front of her. She shook her head, trying to concentrate.

"Finally she's responsive. Isn't that your owl?" Remus asked, pointing towards the window.

"Yeah, but why would she be here at this-" Lily stopped dead. In untidy writing were the words, 'Thunderstorm. You know where to find me.' Without having to think, she knew it was James' handwriting. She smiled and handed it to Remus, "I'm going. I'll see you tomorrow."

It took her a few minutes to finally reach the first floor, considering the fact that she had to dodge the teachers and Prefects patrolling the hallways. Even if it was a Saturday, they were still required to stay in their common rooms. "That's why you left?" she said as she walked out into the rain towards him.

He didn't answer. He held out his hand, which she took. He spun her around in the middle of the rain. It brought back so many memories for the both of them. "Bringing back memories?" Lily asked.

"It brings back too many. What happened to us?" James answered.

"Voldemort, and his plans of death, I guess," Lily replied softly. He spun her quietly. They had danced in the rain on several occasions before, but this time was different. It was their new beginning.

"I'm sorry that I left you there. I didn't want it to be like that. It just happened before I could really understand what was going on," James said softly.

"You're not the only one to be blamed. I was in denial. I was hurt and scared. I just didn't want to face the fact that I was in love with someone who was able to hurt me so badly without trying," Lily sighed, lending into his grip.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be. It was my fault just as much as it was yours. I got over it though," Lily looked up into his hazel eyes as another streak of lightening flashed. They were so livid with love.

"Everyone of Gryffindor is watching," James muttered, as he spun her once again before pulling her back. Dancing lessons had really come in handy for times like this.

"They followed me; Remus, Sirius, Mary, Marlene, and Alice. They're under the cloak," Lily replied.

"More watching, the better," James smirked at her. Every inch of their clothing was clinging to their bodies, soaked with water.

"I've always loved you, whether I showed it or not," Lily said to him quietly as he tighten his grip on her waist.

"I'm glad because I love you too, so much," James said. A thunder crash as he told her, making it impossible for their friends to hear.

He couldn't wait any longer. He closed the gap between them, not that there was really much of a gap to begin with, and pressed his lips to hers. A streak of lightening lit the sky as they kissed. They heard their friends cheer, and knew that most of the Gryffindors were just as happy.

"Let's get back in before we get sick." James pulled her along. They had been out there for quite some time. They would get sick from the cold rain.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, why are you out of bed at this hour?" the Headmaster asked as they entered the fourth floor corridor.

"I-I-I-" Lily tried, but she couldn't think of a liable excuse.

"I didn't see anything," Dumbledore said with a sparkle in his eyes. "But you'd better hurry along before someone else catches you."

James laughed as they threw themselves on the couch. He pulled Lily towards them and that's how their friends found them as they reentered the Head's common room.

A/n- Yay! I had no writers block this time. :)


	10. That is the art of flirting

A/n- So basically I'm looking at this chapter as a filler chapter. Nothing really is going to go on besides the Quidditch match. Next chapter is going to be full moon stuff. Then back to something that happened in the other story.

James sighed and rolled out of bed, pressing off his alarm clock in the process. It was the first game of the season and Gryffindor would be playing Ravenclaw. He grabbed his clothes and made his way to the shower, wanting to wake himself up more. After a quick, cold shower, he changed into his Quidditch robes.

He took a hold of Lily's hand as they headed down to breakfast. They took their seats at the table and started to eat. It was the first game of the season and James was nervous. Butterflies always filled his stomach before the first game. Sirius shoved down his food and looked at James, "Prongs, you need to eat."

James sighed and quickly finished his food. He gave Lily a quick kiss before following Sirius and Marlene out towards the pitch with their teammates. "Let's get a seat before the pitch fills up. You know how it is during the first game," Alice said excitedly. Alice may love watching the game, but she couldn't fly a broom even if it meant saving her life.

Remus pushed his plate away and followed the girls out to the pitch with Peter trotting along beside him. He wasn't feeling too well, since the full moon was due any day now. Peter stumbled down the path towards the pitch, too busy watching Remus out the corner of his eye to watch where he was going. They were worried about him since he was normally moody and irritable in the days prior to his transformation. It looked like Peter wanted to ask him if he felt okay, but he didn't.

They took their seats in the Gryffindor section, choosing the best seats available since they were some of the first students at the Pitch. They talked softly, watching the pitch fill up with anxious students, wondering which House would win this match.

After sitting impatiently for over half an hour, a voice was amplified. Catching the glimpse of the commenter, Lily realized it was a new student. The boy was a fourth year at the most, with dark hair. From this distance, she could only make out enough to believe it was Jenkins, a notorious snitch. "Welcome to the first match of the season! Gryffindor verses Ravenclaw! Who will win?" His voice was definitely strong, matured for his age.

For the most part, the only thing Lily really heard Jenkins say was the team members for Gryffindor. "And for Gryffindor, we have Captain Sirius Black, James Potter, Marlene McKinnon, Henry Flabbering, LeeAnn Williams, Tammy Bell, and finally Jackson Barnet," Jenkins announced wildly.

"Now, I want a nice, clean game. Captain's shake hands," Madam Freestone demanded. She smiled slightly as Sirius stepped forward and shook hands with the Captain of the Ravenclaw team. Madam Freestone had the whistle in her mouth as both teams mounted up. Upon her whistle, they kicked off as hard as possible.

Sirius took possession of the Quaffle, speeding off in the direction of Ravenclaw's goals. The Ravenclaw Chaser and Sirius were struggling to keep possession of the Quaffle, so Sirius threw it to Henry. He scored the first ten points for Gryffindor. Tammy Bell was an excellent Keeper, catching the Quaffle as one of Ravenclaw's Chasers tried to score.

James waited patiently, overlooking the pitch, watching the game and searching for the Snitch all at once. Jackson had possession of the Quaffle and Marlene had successfully protected Tammy from the Bludger. He spotted a glance of gold, but waiting to see it again before speeding off. Sirius scored as James dived towards the ground to get a better look from below.

LeeAnn swung her bat, hitting the Bludger in the opposite direction. James nodded to her before focusing on locating the Snitch. Ravenclaw got their third goal to Gryffindor's eighth. They were leading, not by much. If they caught the Snitch, they would win. They needed to widen the gap in between scores and James really needed to find that Snitch.

Every time he spotted the glint of gold, it would disappear before he could reach it. "Ravenclaw's Seeker has spotted the Snitch," Jenkins voice rang in James' ears. James located Ravenclaw's Seeker and quickly matched his broom's speed. Just before either of their hands could wrap around the golden ball, it disappeared.

Henry scored again, opening the score gap even wider for Gryffindor. James heard fluttering next to his ear and closed his hands around the Snitch. He smiled. "Gryffindor wins!" Jenkins called out, happily. James landed on the ground only to be pulled into a hug by all his teammates. Congratulations were exchanged by most of the team and the Gryffindor House. But James was only looking for Lily, who had yet to make it down to the Pitch yet. He turned around to spot her running up to him.

He picked her up and kissed her as soon as she was close enough. "Party in the Gryffindor common room tonight!" Sirius called out loudly. He clapped James' shoulder and said, "Prongs, we need to get the drinks."

James detached himself from Lily and kissed her cheek, "I'll see you in the Gryffindor common room later, right?" Once Lily nodded, James started heading off towards the castle with Sirius next to him. By the time that they reached the fourth floor landing, Remus and Peter were standing there, holding the Map and Cloak. "Okay, well let's get the drinks!" James smiled before turning on his heels.

Sirius was stuck watching the Map as James opened the passage-way. Once it was open, he let Remus and Peter go before they eventually decided it was safe enough to go through. They lit their wands and continued on their way. Only in Honeydukes did they pull the Cloak over themselves. They made it to the Three Broomsticks before pulling it off. Sirius strutted in, leaning himself against the bar. "Oh, I see you boys finally made your way back to see me." Rosemerta winked at Sirius before adding, "What can I get you?"

"Our usual." James smiled at her, sliding several galleons to her. Her eyes widen slightly before pulling several cases of Firewhiskey and Butterbeer from under the counter.

"You boys come back soon, you hear?" she demanded.

Sirius laughed and winked at her, "Of course we will, Rosie." She blushed and they exited, carrying their new loads.

Remus shook his head as they pushed open the doors, "That girl will do anything for you two. Anyone in their right mind wouldn't sell us this because we're still underage."

"That, my dear Moony, is the art of flirting," Sirius laughed at him. "You do it just right and all the girls will do exactly what you want." Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius and threw the Cloak back over the four of them.

They made it to the Gryffindor common room shortly after leaving the Three Broomsticks. Of course, nobody really knew where they got the drinks from and by the end of the night, nobody cared. James took a seat next to Lily on the couch, raising her eyebrows at him. "You don't want to know," James kissed her softly. "Trust me." She sighed and they spent the rest of the party snogging each other senseless.

On the other side of the room, Sirius was talking quietly to Remus. "No need to be in a pissy mood because some bloke is looking at your girlfriend. Go eat a Chocolate Frog and get happy," Sirius decided, pushing Remus up the stairs. Well, if he wasn't slightly more than drunk, he would've succeeded in getting Remus to eat the Chocolate Frogs. But his words were more than slurred and Remus couldn't understand what Sirius was trying to say.

"Have you noticed that Remus always get moody once a month," Mary whispered to Alice and Marlene. "He always gets irritable and bitchy. I don't know why though. It's like he's having a period or something."

Since Lily was the only one to know about Remus being a werewolf, the other two girls didn't know what to say to Mary. Mary sighed, deciding to confront him about it when there weren't drunk, noisy people around them. Remus just watched her from his seat on the couch, knowing that he would have to tell her about his monthly transformations sooner or later.

A/n- Yay! I just set it up for next chapter! Surprisingly, it was longer than I originally expected it to be, but then again I didn't think I was putting the after party in it. Please review.


	11. Eat chocolate and embrace the idea

A/n- so last chapter was a filler. Yes, I do realize that but I couldn't move on to this chapter without at least something between chapter 9 and this one. Sorry. Please enjoy this chapter.

Lily woke up late, rubbing her eyes before rolling out of bed. She took a shower and headed down to the hall to grab some breakfast. As she sat down next to Mary, she noticed that her boyfriend and his three friends were sitting in a group. She found it quite odd, since they always sat with the girls, seeming as Remus was dating Mary and she was now dating James.

Mary nodded their way and Lily focused on their conversation, "No." Remus was looking at his friends, growling that word. "You're not coming, no matter what you say."

Lily met Mary's eyes, knowing that the full moon was coming up. Remus looked sickly with his ghostly pale skin and under eye bags. He was irritable due to the upcoming moon. Sirius barked a laugh at Remus, bringing attention to the group, "You say that every time. Eat chocolate and embrace the idea."

James rolled his eyes and smacked him on the back of the head. When Sirius tried to argue with James, James silenced him by saying, "Padfoot, how many times do we have to tell you? Chocolate isn't the answer to his furry little problem." Lily eyes widened, knowing they were talking about Remus' transformation. But she couldn't figure out what they would be doing with him. They couldn't possibly be visiting him. That would put their lives in danger.

"I'm just saying that it cheers him up," Sirius defended himself, raising his hands to protect himself. Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius before stopping James from hitting him again.

"I agree with Padfoot," Peter interjected himself. "You need to be cheered up. Eat some chocolate and be happy." Sirius patted Peter on the shoulder, thanking him for agreeing with him.

"Chocolate may lighten my mood, but my answer's still going to be a no," Remus said firmly. James, Sirius, and Peter just laughed.

"No matter what you say, Moony, we're helping you with your furry little problem," James raised his eyebrow at him, daring him to disagree. He pulled out a Chocolate Frog and offered it to Remus.

Remus sighed and the three other boys knew they had their friend. "Fine, but I don't like it," Remus grumbled, taking the piece of chocolate James was handing him.

"Well, Moony, you don't have to like it. You just have to accept the fact that we're going to stick by you no matter what." Sirius patted Remus on the shoulder. "But for now, we're going to need sleep. Come on." The four boys stood, finally realizing that the girls were looking at them curiously.

James kissed Lily on the cheek before saying, "I'm not going to class today. I'll see you later tonight though." Lily turned her glare on him but he was already gone. All she wanted to know was why.

"What the hell are they planning that requires extra sleep?" Mary demanded, turning to face Lily, as if she knew the answers.

Lily shrugged and picked up her bag, "I don't know, but we need to get to class." She pulled her auburn hair into a ponytail before joining her friends.

They took their seats in Potions, waiting patiently for Professor Slughorn to exit his office. Since all the guys spilt, Lily and Mary partnered up. Slughorn glanced at the group, questioning himself loudly, "Where are Mr. Black, Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin, and Mr. Pettigrew?"

Though his question was directed at no one in particular, Alice answered, "They weren't feeling good." Slughorn shrugged, accepting the answer and started the lesson. After an hour of taking notes, they were released with a twelve inch roll of parchment for homework. They walked to the Head's common room in silence.

Lily slung her bag on the couch, before sitting down to start the work. By the time that they headed out to their next class, Herbology, they all were frustrated. Alice sighed loudly as she took the seat next to Marlene, "I really could use more sleep."

"Can't we all," Marlene grumbled. "It isn't fair that they decided to sleep all day today."

The next time they reached the Head's common room it was rather late. Peter, Sirius, and James were sitting at the coffee table playing Exploding Snap to pass the time before the girls returned. The opening of the portrait hole distracted James, causing his matches to explode. Sirius and Peter started to laugh loudly. "Hey," James called out. "Do you guys want to play?"

"No, because unlike you, we have homework," Lily growled at her boyfriend. James diverted his eyes, not wanting to face Lily's anger. He knew she would be angry, but he hoped she wouldn't be.

Feeling the tension in the air, Peter and Sirius stood. "Come on, Prongs, we have to go anyways," Sirius stated, looking at Peter.

"Where the hell are you going?" Marlene demanded. "First, you four weren't in class today. Now you want to run around the school since you are so rested. I don't think so. You are staying here and explaining why you didn't feel like going to class today."

James shot Sirius a look and Peter looked between his two friends. The two boys were in a blinking contest for a few seconds to determine which one would rain on their friends' parades. "Sorry, we can't tell you," James finally said, losing his blinking contest with Sirius.

"And why would that be?" Lily asked, placing her hands on her hips. She stared at James, who shifted uncomfortably under her eyes.

Sirius decided that he would save his best mate from Lily's wrath. "It's a Marauders secret. We can't tell you," he insisted. James shot him a look, thanking him silently.

"We really have to go," James said. "We'll explain the best we can when we get back." Sirius and Peter nodded, agreeing with James.

The girls sighed, defeated slightly. "You better. And I mean as soon as you get back," Mary growled toward the three boys. Peter looked frightened but Sirius and James just nodded. They left the common room quickly, leaving the four girls to glance between themselves. "We'll it looks like we're sleeping in here tonight." Mary smiled at Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes and entered her room. She pulled out a book and returned to an armchair. She curled up, reading her book quietly as they waited for the group of boys to return to the common room. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.

The opening of the common room portrait woke her up easily. The three boys stumbled in the room, looking rather worn out. "Wormtail, you need to calm down. I'll heal you as soon as I can survey you," James said, his voice low. He noticed Lily sitting in the armchair as he drug Sirius to the couch. "Why are you still awake?" he asked softly.

"I fell asleep in the armchair. But what is more important, is what the bloody hell happened," Lily demanded, grabbing her wand from the coffee table.

"I can't explain now. Can you help me heal them?" James asked, pulling his own wand out. He set out the task of healing all of Sirius' wounds. She surveyed Peter. He didn't have many wounds, just some gashes and bruises. Lily started to heal Peter.

Sirius' breath evened out as James finished, "Thanks mate."

James nodded and was about to start healing himself when Lily cried out, "You're hurt." James just shrugged his shoulders, letting her know he had heard her. He, wordlessly, started to get rid of his wound. After Lily finished with Peter, she helped him. James breathed evenly and sighed.

By this time, the other girls had woken up and everyone was looking to the four boys for explanation. When prompted, they replied with their previous answer. "You come in here hurt and expect us not to worry or wonder what the hell happened? And understand that you can't tell us because it's a 'Marauders secret'? Seriously, have you been dropped on your head lately? We want answers now!" Lily cried out.

"Not today," James sighed, not looking Lily in her eyes. "But in the next few days you should have your answers." Lily growled and retreated to her bedroom with her friends. The boys sighed and headed towards the Hospital Wing to see Remus.

Several days had passed since they stumbled in the Head's common room, worn out and bloody. The girls attempted to avoid them as much as possible since they were still angry for not getting straight answers out of the three boys. When asked, the boys would blow off the question or answer with another question.

Remus spent three days in the Hospital Wing, recovering from fatigue and injuries that he inflicted or Sirius and James caused. He was released on Sunday morning after breakfast, feeling better. He entered the Head's common room to see the girls were sitting in their own corners and the boys were playing Exploding Snap. "Moony, I see Madam Pomprey released you. How are you feeling?" James asked loudly, drawing everyone's attention to Remus.

Remus sat down on the couch, "I've been better, but I'm feeling okay."

Sirius whispered something to Remus who widen his eyes but nodded. James glanced at Sirius before whispering to Remus. Remus shrugged and whispered back. Lily finally spoke up, "What's with all the secrets lately?"

Remus motioned for the girls to join them, "You all are safer when you don't know. That's all."

"We just want to know why they came in here on Thursday night, hurt," Alice said. "That's all. How bad can the truth be?"

Remus looked at his friends. "I'm sorry, guys. I didn't –"

James cut him off, "We know you didn't mean to. We're fine anyways. It isn't like you can control yourself."

"Since you four our the only friends we trust outside ourselves, we will tell you what happened on Thursday but you have to vow not to tell anyone," Remus stared them all in the eyes. Once they vowed, he continued, "I know Lily knows, but I am a werewolf. I was bitten when I was six." Alice, Mary, and Marlene just stared at him with open mouths. Before they could ask him any questions, he added, "Dumbledore was kind enough to let me be here. I transform in the Shrieking Shack."

Sirius motioned between himself, James, and Peter, "We figured it out in first year. We promised we would find a way to help him. And before you say there isn't any way to help, Lily, we found a way that helped him. It took us nearly three years to perfect it, but we did it." Lily's protests were silenced on her lips as he said that.

"What did you manage to do?" Mary asked, looking at her boyfriend.

"Something I never approved of," Remus grumbled.

James rolled his eyes at Remus, "But you don't hurt yourself anymore. You know we prefer that you don't hurt yourself."

"And you think I prefer allowing you to put yourself in danger?" Remus demanded.

"You still have no say in the matter," James remarked. "If I recall properly you can't send us away." A cough reminded the two that others were waiting for their answer. "Anyways, we learned to become unregistered Animagi in fifth year," he added, turning to look at his girlfriend.

The girl's eyes widened. "But that's illegal. You could be arrested if you don't get registered," Marlene gasped.

"The nicknames, the disappearing during the full moon, the furry little problem, it all makes sense now," Lily said. She glanced at her friends. "But what are your Animgus forms?"

"I'm a black dog," Sirius replied instantly.

"I still say you should become a dog. You make quite a better dog," James smirked at Sirius, who hit him. "I'm just being honest, Padfoot."

"Shove it, Prongs." Sirius narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

"I'm a white stag," James returned to the topic.

"I'm not important. I'm just a rat," Peter sighed, disappointed.

"You're still important, Wormtail. You make sure the tree doesn't hit us," Sirius patted him on the shoulder. Before the girls could ask any more questions, Sirius just started to explain things. "During the full moon, we keep Moony in check, making sure he doesn't hurt anyone including himself."

"That's what you call loyalty," Mary started to stroke Remus' hair softly.

"So that's how you three managed to write that roll of parchment for the Animgus assignment without glancing in the book," Lily said as the realization hit her.

"Yes, Minnie almost caught us. She thought it was too detailed from just knowledge from the textbook. We barely managed to convince her that we had read other books on 'such a fascinating topic'. She was still skeptical but let us go," Sirius laughed.

"Technically, we did read other books on the subject," James added. "So it wasn't like we were completely lying to her. We just weren't telling her the entire truth."

A/n- okay, so I had to add that in somewhere. I enjoyed it. Did you?


	12. Lilypad, your owl is here

A/n- So the full moon was last chapter. Now it's sometime in December. Hope you enjoy.

James was patrolling the hallways alone. Lily had fallen ill without warning and there had been no time to get a replacement to help him. Remus had been too caught up in studying with Mary to accompany him. He sighed, before pulling out the map. It was only for show that he was truly wandering the hallways after hours.

Though, it did give him time to reflect on the changes that have happened between Lily and himself recently. Not that he was complaining. He did wait eight years to finally call her his again. She hated him for something he couldn't control. The inflated ego, bullying, and cockiness probably didn't help matters, but he did need release for his pinned up emotions too. Maybe his way wasn't the best, but it worked for him and that's all he really wanted.

But now, she was his and the past didn't matter anymore. The only thing he focused on was not ignoring his mates for Lily and not ignoring Lily for his studies. This year had been unrelenting on the amount of work necessary to pass. It required him to be in class every day in order to understand what was going on. It didn't help matters that he would missed two days every month to help Remus. If he was going to become an Auror, he needed to keep ahead of the game. It wasn't easy by any means, but so far, he was doing it wonderfully.

He glanced down at the map to notice Raylie's dot heading straight for him. He barely had time to wonder why she was out of bed at this ungodly hour before she practically ran into him. She muttered an apology and James smiled down at her. He had truly missed her. "What are you doing out of bed?" he asked. It didn't matter that she was his sister; he was Head Boy and had a job to do.

"I couldn't sleep," she said softly, her voice chiming like bells. "I fancied a walk around the lake. I thought it would calm me." She had a plain black hoodie pulled over her torso and purple plaid pajama pants. Her black curls were tangled and slightly windblown, confirming her statement.

He raised his eyebrow at her and said sternly, "There is a curfew. Being my sister doesn't stop you from getting in trouble."

She turned her blue eyes on him, pleading with him silently. "I know. I'll stay in my common room next time," she assured him. As she was retreating, she added, "By the way, I never expected special treatment for being your sister."

"Well, hurry along. We don't need you getting caught by a teacher. They will give you a detention, instead of letting you off with a warning like I am," James sighed. His statement sounded rude to his own ears. She hasn't mastered the ability to hide her emotions, he noted as he saw a flicker of hurt pass through her blue eyes.

She nodded. He stood in the middle of the hallway for a long time pondering what caused possessed him to say that to her. He sighed loudly and checked his watch. Patrol had ended over fifteen minutes ago, but he was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice.

He wiped the map and returned to the Head's common room. He mumbled the password and threw himself on his bed once inside. He was too tired to change or do any of the homework. Once his head hit the pillow, he was sound asleep.

Thankfully, it was the weekend. Outside was too chilly for their likings; so instead of enjoying the crisp December day, the group was huddled inside. They gathered around the coffee table and tried to complete the large amount of homework they still had to do. Sirius complained several times about being bored with homework and suggested that they pull a prank.

James rolled his eyes at Sirius each time he complained. Sirius was never the most studious one of the group. Both James and Sirius never really had to crack the book to get the grades they did, they just weren't that consistent about doing their homework. Up until this year, James would blow of his homework for time with his friends and Quidditch, but those things were definitely not the first thing on his mind anymore.

Remus had long given up on trying to shut Sirius up when he started to complain about homework. Though, on rare occasions that Remus was seriously angry, Sirius would end up silenced by a charm. Sirius would rant silently, throwing his hands all around; it put a smile on the guys' faces at the sight of their friend and Remus would loosen up a bit. He never thought about taking the charm off himself.

"Black, I'm trying to work," Lily snapped at Sirius. "So shut up." She looked right at him, daring him to say another word. Only once she was satisfied he wouldn't be talking anymore, she returned to her paper.

A faint tapping sounded throughout the silent common room. Sirius, who had started flipping through a Quidditch tactics book, glanced up to see Lily's owl hovering at the window. "Lilypad, your owl is here," Sirius smiled.

A confused look crossed her face as she opened the window with a flick of her wand. The owl dropped the letter it was holding onto her lap and flew towards the Owlery. She turned the letter over continuously in her hands, trying to decide if she wanted to open it. Her curiosity got the better of her and she ripped it open.

Her eyes scanned the letter quickly. Once she finished, she met the eyes of her friends. She shrugged and returned to her paper. The letter was abandoned on the table, in hopes that she wouldn't have to tell her friends. James picked up the letter and read it. He passed it on before glancing at her. "You know you don't have to go," he broke the silence that had formed.

"She's my sister, no matter what. I'm going," she replied. "Besides, I'm not going to miss her wedding because of my parents."

**A/n- I am terribly sorry for the long wait. I've been in a lot of pain in the last two weeks so I haven't gotten on my computer too much. **

**Please review. It'll make me feel better :)**


	13. You'll be okay

No matter how long the train ride was, it never prepared her for facing her family. As the scarlet train came to a screeching halt at the station, Lily sighed loudly. It wasn't the fact that she would have to face her parents, that she could handle, but she didn't know if she could handle her cousin and Uncle for the entire holiday.

James gave her a sideways glanced before helping Sirius and Remus unload their trunks. Peter was never any good at his levitation charm, so he stood by idly. Alice, Mary, and Marlene kept shooting her apologetic looks but Lily just shrugged them off, no matter how much she hated receiving them.

They stood, huddled in a group, waiting for their parents to arrive. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were the first to arrive. Since the last time Lily seen them, they had definitely grown older. Mr. Potter's coal hair had faded gray and his intense hazel eyes had long lost their sparkle of humor. Mrs. Potter's head was full of gray hair and her bright gray eyes were dull. James stood next to her for a second. "You know you don't have to go home if you don't want to. My parents would love to see you again," he brought her out of her train of thought.

"I told you already. I won't miss Petunia's wedding for the world. She might not want me there, but I want to be there; even if it means dealing with them. I can handle myself," she assured him. "I'll be at your house the night I turn of age."

Remus slipped her a crumbled up sheet of parchment. "Read it and then burn it. They have protection spells on their house. If anyone reads that, they can be in some serious danger." Lily shoved the parchment in her pants pocket. She groaned as she turned around to face her cousin and Uncle. "They're here."

They walked towards her slowly. They looked nearly identical with their shaggy light brown hair and small, beady brown eyes. "Lily, it's good to see you again," her cousin, Landon, greeted her happily. "Are you ready to go?"

"Almost, I just need to say goodbye to my friends," she replied, turning towards Alice. Alice wrapped her arms tightly around Lily.

In turn, each hugged her. Sirius kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Be safe, alright? I'll see you later." Lily just nodded towards his statement. Being safe in that house wasn't the easiest thing to achieve.

Remus pulled her close to him, mimicking Sirius. He kissed her cheek softly and whispered, "You'll be okay. Be safe."

James was last in the line of hugs. He pulled her close and smiled. He kissed her. There was a tug at his shoulder as Landon said, "Get away from her, you freak!"

Lily pulled away to mutter, "Don't tell him what to do. Besides, I'm old enough to make my own decisions." She kissed him again.

He pulled away before whispering huskily in her ear, "I love you." James picked up his trunk and went to follow Sirius. Sirius was halfway towards his parents by the time they heard her Uncle say, "Your parents were right; you're just a slutty mistake."

Before any of her friends could appear by her side, she spat dangerously at him, "You have several things wrong, _Uncle_. For one, I am not a slut or a mistake. I have enough of them calling me a mistake; I _won't_ take it from you." Her green eyes were flashing with anger and her friends knew well enough not to near her.

It was only after Landon slapped her cheek that she realized that he was standing next to her. Her friends gasped as they watched. "You hit me again Landon, you _will_ regret it. I promise you that," she turned her glare on her cousin.

She shook her head towards her friends before grabbing her things. Her trunk followed her as she made her way silently away from Platform 9 and ¾'s. She didn't bother to turn around to see her friend's questioning stares. They knew all they would know for now.

The car ride home was silent and awkward as the walk to the car was. She noiselessly led her trunk to the smallest bedroom on the right. Her room looked just like she had left it. Her bed was made perfectly, not a wrinkle in the white comforter. Under the window she often climbed out of sat a wooden desk with a lamp for light. To the right was her small closet that held almost nothing. In the furthest corner of her closet sat two boxes of her things, untouched as usual. Each year before heading to Hogwarts, she would try to hide most of her belongings. Books from the Wizarding world were the only things she was truly worried about.

She sighed and dropped her trunk with a thud. Picking up the picture on her nightstand, a smile crept across her face. Why she still had the picture of their second Halloween together, she didn't know. It was a fond memory, yes. But just looking at how happy she looked when she was younger wiped the smile off her face.

A yell for her presence brought her out of her memories. She realized that Landon and Uncle had told her parents about what happened at the train station. They would pay for that later, she decided as she descended the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, her mother stood, tapping her foot impatiently. Her mother didn't change much from the last time Lily saw her. Her black hair was always up in that high ponytail and her black eyes flickered with disappointment, almost as if she hated to treat her daughter like she did. But Lily knew she enjoyed inflicting pain on her.

Her stepfather was her mother's exact opposite, with Petunia's blonde hair and blue eyes. He smirked, knowing that Lily would suffer at his hands. He thoroughly enjoyed harming her. "Yes ma'am," Lily asked in her sweetest voice, trying to avoid conflict.

"If you ever dare to embarrass our family again, you will regret it," her mother growl at her as her hand came down against Lily's cheek. A red mark appeared and Lily nodded.

She was truly lucky her parents were being nice. Otherwise, it would've ended a lot worse than it did. She spent the rest of the night locked her in tiny bedroom, reading school textbooks.


End file.
